Crude oil futures traded lower on commodity exchanges on Monday morning following hopes of a possible summit between the US and Russia on Ukraine crisis.

March crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,711 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hours of trading on Monday morning against the previous close of ₹6,730, down by 0.28 per cent.

May Brent oil futures were at $91.15, down by 0.26 per cent; and April crude oil futures on WTI at $89.89, down by 0.35 per cent.

A statement from the French President’s office said that Emmanuel Macron, French President, had suggested to the US and Russian leaders for a summit over security and strategic stability in Europe.

Meanwhile, a White House statement from Press Secretary Jen Psaki said as the US President has repeatedly made clear, the US is committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.

‘Ready for diplomacy’

“Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe, provided Russia does not proceed with military action. President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again, if an invasion hasn’t happened. We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” the statement said.

It may be mentioned here that many leaders in the US and Europe are fearing an attack by Russia on Ukraine. This will lead to the disruption of crude oil supply to the already tight market. This had led to the increase in the price of the commodity for the past several days.

In the meantime, investors also felt that a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is on the cards in the near future after a senior European Union official said Friday a deal was very close. Such a deal could add Iranian crude oil to the existing tight supply market.

March natural gas futures were trading at ₹342.10 on MCX in the initial hour of Monday morning against the previous close of ₹332.10, up by 3.01 per cent.

Turmeric gleams

April turmeric (farmer finished) contracts were trading at ₹10,260 on the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) against the previous close of ₹10,218, up by 0.41; and May contracts were trading at ₹10,412 against the previous close of ₹10,270, up by 1.38 per cent.

March catstorseed futures were trading at ₹7,046 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹7114, down by 0.96 per cent; and April futures were trading at ₹7042 against the previous close of ₹7104, down by 0.87 per cent.

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